This invention relates to a method, device and system for estimating the status of at least one of a physiological and psychological condition of a human being.
Asthma is generally defined as a chronic inflammatory disorder of the airways in which many cells and cellular elements play a role, in particular mast cells, eosinophils, T lymhocytes, macrophages, neutrophils and epithelial cells. In susceptible individuals, this inflammation causes recurrent episodes of wheezing, breathlessness, chest tightness and coughing, particularly at night or in the early morning. These episodes are usually associated with widespread but variable airflow obstruction that is often reversible either spontaneously or with treatment. The inflammation also causes an associated increase in the existing bronchial hyperresponsiveness to a variety of stimuli.
Individuals with asthma have to follow their pulmonary functions regularly and adjust their medication accordingly. To enable this, certain parameters to describe the status of pulmonary function, and measurement devices to indicate the current values of these parameters have been developed. At present, measurements of these parameters are carried out through observing the characteristics of the inhalation and exhalation of the person. An adequate definition of the status of asthma symptoms generally requires a full spirometer analysis, which indicates the values of several pulmonary parameters, but this usually cannot be accomplished regularly on a daily basis. A simple measurement device is a PEF meter, indicating the Peak Expiratory Flow of the pulmonary tract, which device some asthma patients constantly carry with them. A single PEF value, anyhow, gives only a limited picture of the status of asthma symptoms, and the analysis of the measured value relies solely on the personal capacities of the individual in question. Furthermore, it is not very convenient to carry an extra device with oneself, nor is it always easy to find the time and the place to carry out the measurements in a discrete way.
Like in the asthma case, monitoring of many human conditions require test conditions and use of dedicated test equipment. For this reason frequent, long-term monitoring of such conditions is generally not available, except perhaps for a scattered test group of chosen people.